Campaigners warn that discrimination threatens progress against HIV and AIDS

Progress in combating HIV is being undermined by anti-homosexual stigma and repressive legislation in some of the most affected countries, a major human rights charity says.

Human Rights Watch points out that this year’s world AIDS day theme is “universal access and human rights,” but in many parts of the world “legislation effectively criminalises populations living with HIV or vulnerable to HIV infection, such as sex workers, drug users, and men who have sex with men.”

Such laws “fuel stigma and discrimination, increase barriers to HIV information and treatment,” and contribute to the spread of disease, says the charity.